What would be an estimated recharge time with 1000watts of solar? Days, weeks, months?
Thanks

are you thinking dockside mounting? a 100 watt panel is 40 inches by 26 inches. so it would take 10 of those, there is no way they are going to fit on a 34 foot boat. that is like five feet by 16 feet of panels. Not to mention about $5,000 just for the panels. (using sun-force panels)

are you thinking dockside mounting? a 100 watt panel is 40 inches by 26 inches. so it would take 10 of those, there is no way they are going to fit on a 34 foot boat. that is like five feet by 16 feet of panels. Not to mention about $5,000 just for the panels. (using sun-force panels)

someday the sail might be a panel ? yes I know it is not today
We did not go to the moon by thinking it can not be. No WAY
We do not sail to be practical. No one needs to sail in todays world
I am just having fun I hope others are doing the same.
Kind regards , Lou

someday the sail might be a panel ? yes I know it is not today
We did not go to the moon by thinking it can not be. No WAY
We do not sail to be practical. No one needs to sail in todays world
I am just having fun I hope others are doing the same.
Kind regards , Lou

Well yes, but the original poster was asking about putting in an electric motor using today's technology, not with the technology that may some day happen, but just as likely not. Sure super expensive yachts owned by rich folks that want to say they are green, even though they lead a excessively consumption centered life will be able to afford them. Will it ever be likely to put a solar sail on a $15,000 sail boat, I doubt it. And it would mean for you to get a charge you would need to keep the sail up, not going to happen. Heck it is marginal to even rebuild the motors on these boats let alone put in whole new systems.

So today, can you put an electric motor in place of an inboard, yes. You can but you will need shore-side electric to charge it. You will have very short range as in just a couple of hours. and it will cost about the same as a diesel. If you have the skills and access to parts you might save a bit by using a used motor and controller. I sail on a boat frequently that uses electric power and it severely limits range and they have a huge battery bank (a dozen 120 pound batteries) on a 32 foot boat. They did it for ecological reasons, not financial. I doubt there is much ecological gain, after you factor in all the lead and acid in the batteries and the coal burned to create the electricity.

I disagree slightly about price...my numbers(im still considering electric) come to around $4.5k for a pretty decent mid 30s sailboat electric motor

10kwatt continuos, 15 or max...

this includes everything...

having said that I still have the issue of regen and how to charge while on the hook and solar and wind arent enough unless I only use the engine maybe 30 minutes a day max...

which when cruising windy areas or trades is perfectly reasonable

now if I were a charter boat, docking and unloading all the time and on schedule eletric would be a no go for ME....

I still dream of doing it...

here was my list of goodies to buy:

electric motorsport 10kw kit $1650 ready to use or the diy kit was around 1k.
batteries $800 for 4-8 batteries cheap or good ones(trojans)
assorted mounts and fabrication $200
chain and gear kit custom made down here about $100

extra panels and a custom wind genny another $500 or so
and shipping down here is about $600!

since I already bought a portable generator thats off the list. its small but plenty to recharge a small 4 bank battery setup on the hook...

thats if not going below 80 percent battery capacity...if I go lower I would have to have a big ass 5kw generator and those are too loud to be on the hook for sure

Merit 25 sold...Islander 36 still afloat? who knows...Im still in Columbus, and back...I think...jajajaja!!!!To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Merit 25 sold...Islander 36 still afloat? who knows...Im still in Columbus, and back...I think...jajajaja!!!!To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

200AH * 48V is 9600 watts. Assuming a 100% efficient charging system you would need about 10 hours of noon-level directly sunlight. Here in the PNW that would be about 2 days.

1000W is a lot of panels. I don't know where I could put those on my 29' sailboat without ruining it.

It would be a bit of a pain but if you had 7 panels up each rail and 3-4 across the back, that would be 1700-1800 watts, about 6 hours best, Just have tofigure an easy way of setting/ removing/ storing them.

It would be a bit of a pain but if you had 7 panels up each rail and 3-4 across the back, that would be 1700-1800 watts, about 6 hours best, Just have tofigure an easy way of setting/ removing/ storing them.

A member of our club just bought 2- 240 watt panels for $1000. I figure 4 of those is 960watts. Really not that much space used.

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